John Bottomley
John was born in Toronto in 1960. He traveled around living in Ottawa, London England, Cold Lake Alberta, Lahr Germany and back to Toronto by the time he was 20. In England he studied classical piano and sang in the school Choir. Later in Germany bought his first guitar. A framus. At age 16 he started playing in bands and played the Black forest area of southern Germany. He cut his teeth with a band called Tulpa In Toronto. They were early pioneers of the Queen street scene. A punky,Rock, Raggea outfit.. Releasing there first record “Mosaic Fish.”on the now legendary Label Midnight Music in London in 1985. They played the clubs. Hundreds of them. In 1986 they were a frequent stay at CBGB’s in New York City. Hilly Krystal the owner managed them for a while and signed Tulpa to his Label “Off the board records.” They released a live album. Hilly wrote a book called“This aint no Disco” The story of CBGB’s where Tulpa is mentioned.
In 1990 John released his first Solo record Called “Library of the Sun.” It won best record of the year at Ottawa’s college radio station. Latent records signed him and later BMG directly. In 1992 he released “Songs with the Ornamental Hermits.” It won a Canadian Juno Award. In 1995 he released Blackberry which spawned a couple of top ten Hits. The Song “You Lose and you Gain.” Went to Number 3 on the Canadian Record Chart. It won a Socan award for one of the top songs of 1995. In 1998 he released a very different record called “Raggle Taggle.” It was nominated for Male vocalist of the year by the west coast music awards..In the year 2000 he moved to Bowen Island and released The Crown of Life, Star in the Singing grove, on His own Crane/Bag label just like he did in the beginning. Gentle acoustic recordings. He moved again into the mountains and released Songpoet, His song “ I Drifted by the Creek.” was a semi-finalist in the ISC awards. (International songwriting contest in America). In 2009 he released The Mountain Hammered Vol 1 and 2. His most current recording is called “ The Healing Dream.” A look back and a look forward.
Of his music, john say’s “I try not to trap my music in any style as that could be dangerous.” I have all kinds of songs. Ghost songs, Story songs, border ballads, Fairy tale, and majical ballads, Fable songs,
His work shows a musical and literal sense. At times otherwordly. Utopian even.
“ I have busked on the street, sang in clubs, music halls, theatres, fun fairs and festivals. There have been lots of highlights, and many more to come.
John passed away suddenly in the Spring of 2011.
The following are his contributions to the world of music and literature:
Discography
SOLO RECORDINGS
The Healing Dream (2010)
The Mountain Hammered vol 1 and 2 (2009)
Songpoet (2007)
Star in the Singing grove (2004)
The Crown of Life part 2 (2002)
The Crown of Life part 1 (2000)
Raggle Taggle (1998)
Blackberry (1995)
Songs with the Ornamnetal Hermits (1992)
Library of the Sun (1990)
With the Band TULPA
Live at CBGB’s (1986)
Mosaic Fish (1985)
Apologize/mystical dreams single (1983)
BOOKS
Star in the Singing Grove (2004)
Here’s the Candy (2001)
Triskelion (1995)
JOHN BOTTOMLEY’S CDS ARE AVAILABLE AT:
CD BABY
iTunes
www.johnbottomley.net